Gujarat: Three Congress MLAs close to Vaghela resign, join BJP

In a setback to the Congress in Gujarat, three of its MLAs, who resigned from the party earlier in the day, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday evening.

Earlier in the day, three Congress MLAs P. I. Patel, Balwantsinh Rajput and Tejashree Patel resigned from the grand old party. Rajput is a relative of Shankersinh Vaghela, who quit the Congress last week, while P.I. Patel was the Congress legislator from Vijapur. This comes when the Rajya Sabha election is around the corner in Gujarat.

BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani will contest for Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat. Currently, Shah is an MLA from Gujarat's Naranpura constituency.

Gujarat Congress MLAs Balwantsinh Rajput, P I Patel and Tejashree Patel join BJP pic.twitter.com/qLJj4ZAjlb

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2017